The Comet was a twister-layout

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be ...

that operated in the now defunct

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It operated from 1946 until 1987.

History

The coaster, originally named Cyclone, was designed by Edward Leis and Vernon Keenan and built by National Amusement Devices. The ride was 3000 feet long, and had a top speed of 55 mph and lasted two minutes and ten seconds. It had two

trains A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

, each with five cars, arranged with two per row, two rows per car, for a total of 20 riders per train. The coaster was originally designed to run with five car trains, but during the last years of its operation, they were shortened to four to allow the last carts to be used for spare parts. The roller coaster stood abandoned for 25 years until it was demolished on July 11, 2012. In 1964, a man died on the roller coaster as a result of standing up as it ascended the first lift. In 1968, the rear car of one of the trains became disconnected while ascending the final hill, causing it to roll backward. As a result, the train derailed, dropping six people to the ground ten feet below with minor injuries. The mishap was possibly caused by the passengers rocking the car, damaging the coupler. The original trains were removed and replaced with newer Century Flyer trains. During the era when Hoffman owned Lincoln Park, safety became a bigger concern, and more accidents on the Comet resulted in its closing. On August 17, 1986, an electrician working on the coaster fell more than 55 feet causing immediate death. On September 29, 1987, four people were injured when the braking system failed. The cars jackknifed into the roller coaster wood and as a result, Comet was closed. The trains were purchased by

Little Amerricka Little Amerricka is an amusement park located in Marshall, Wisconsin, United States. It features numerous attractions, notably including a gauge 1/3 size rail road called the Whiskey River Railway with over , in addition to 24 rides and an 1 ...

Amusement Park when the ride closed. Little Amerricka also expressed interest in buying the coaster in 2002. The owner of Lincoln Park at the time, Walter Bronhard, offered to sell the coaster for $90,000, but received no buyers. Various efforts were made to save the coaster; however, the coaster's

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

had partially collapsed in January 2005 due to rot. Little Amerricka proposed to build an exact replica of the ride but it was cancelled. Having abandoned all proposals and future plans, the remainder of the Comet was demolished on July 11, 2012.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, title=Lincoln Part Comet, North Dartmouth MA, About Lincoln Park, Lincoln Park Explorer {{! Lincoln Park Comet Fan Site, url=http://www.lpcomet.com/a-little-history, url-status=dead, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427170511/http://www.lpcomet.com/a-little-history, archivedate=2012-04-27

External links

Comet Roller Coaster at Lincoln Park in October 2006A tribute site to Lincoln Park with over 80 photos of the park todayA MySpace tribute site for Lincoln Park and the Comet
Roller coasters in Massachusetts 1946 establishments in Massachusetts Former roller coasters in Massachusetts